Blowing head for packaging apparatus



y 1961 c. w. VOGT 2,985,340

BLOWING HEAD FOR PACKAGING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 5. 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1H 1 il|||||' [m ik 14.25

INVENTOR. CLARE/val: W VOGT M ,4 TTORNEYJ May 23, 1961 c. w. VOGT2,985,340

BLOWING HEAD FOR PACKAGING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 5. 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2"JNVENTOR. CLARA-Na W V047 A; ATTORNEZJ United States Patent BLOWINGHEAD FOR PACKAGING APPARATUS Clarence W. V0gt,, Weston, Conn. (Rte. 4,Westport, Conn.)

Filed Nov. 5, 1956, Ser. No. 620,531

10 Claims. (Cl. 222-189) This invention relates to improvements inblowing or feeding heads for apparatus for forming and filling packages,and it relates particularly to an improved type valve for a blowing headby means of which finely divided, powdered or pulverulent materials suchas flour, brown and powdered sugar, cake mixes, pie crust mixes and thelike can be blown into lined or unlined cavities, molds, boxes and othercontainers or enwrapments in accurately measured amounts and withoutwaste of material.

Filling apparatuses generally of the type referred to above aredisclosed in my co-pending applications Serial No. 595,249, filed July2, 1956, and Serial No. 611,231, filed September 21, 1956. In each ofthese applications, a blowing head is provided which includes a rotaryvalve member adapted to be rotated to one position to permit flow ofmaterial from a hopper into a magazine and into another position inwhich the material received in the magazine is discharged by means ofair pressure applied thereto through the valve into an enwrapment, mold,cavity, pocket, core box, container or the like.

The present invention relates toan improved form of valve for a blowinghead which is constructed and arranged to be easily manufactured andserviced and by means of which leakage or loss of the material beingfilled into the enwrapment is reduced to a minimum.

More particularly, the new form of valve for a blowing or filling headhas a novel arrangement of the valve elements therein and of filterelements, such as porous members, screens, perforated plates or the likethrough which gas under pressure is supplied to the valve fordischarging the finely divided material therefrom, these elements beingarranged and related so as to reduce to a minimum the possibility ofleakage of the gas and the finely divided or powdered material from theblowing head.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may behad to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a typical apparatus of the typeembodying the present invention shown partially broken away and with theair control valve for the blowing head partly in section to disclosedetails thereof;

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the apparatus;

Figure 3 is a view in section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a view in section taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a view in vertical section of the blowing head including theportion of the magazine, discharge and gas venting means therefor.

The form of blowing head including a valve accord- 2,985,340 PatentedMay 23, 1961 ice 7 of which air is supplied to the interior of thecasing. The

opening 12 in the top of the casing 11 is adapted to be aligned with thebottom of a supply hopper 21 which is mounted on the casing in anysuitable way, such as by means of screws 22 passing through theoutwardly-extending flange 23 at the bottom of the casing into threadedopenings in the top of the casing.

Mounted within the casing 11 is a rotary ball valve member 25 which isprovided with a diametrically extending bore 01 opening 26 and anintersecting radial opening 27 thereby forming a generally T-shapedcavity within the ball valve 25. The ball valve is removably mounted inthe casing and can be rotated to dispose either the diametrical passage26 or the radial passage 27 vertically.

A sealing means for the ball valve, such as a rubber ring 28, is mountedin a recess 29 formed in the undersurface of the top of the casingaround the opening 12 therein. The resilient or rubber ring 28 bearsagainst the top of the ball valve and seals therewith but permitsrelative rotation of the ball valve.

A supporting ring 31 formed of metal or the like, engages the lowerportion of the valve 25 and is provided with a lapped valve seat 32 ofsemi-spherical shape complemental to the shape of the ball 25. As bestshown in Figure 3, the ring 31 is received for vertical sliding movement in the opening 13 in the bottom of the casing 11 and is normallybiased upwardly by means of a coiled or corrugated spring 34 interposedbetween an outwardly extending circular flange 35 on the ring 31 and aretaining ring 36 which is detachably mounted on the bottom of thecasing 11 by means of screws or the like. Proper centering of the ring36 in the opening 13 is assured by means of an annular extension 37which fits in the opening 13. A gasket may be interposed between thering 36 and the casing 11 to prevent leakage. The rings 28 and 31 engagethe ball valve 25 at all times and are in sliding contact .with it sothat their engaging surfaces are wiped clean by movement of ball valve.

' Proper positioning of the casing 11 on a supporting bracket or plate38, such as, for example, the turntable disclosed in my applicationSerial No. 611,231 is assured by means of the annular extension 39 onthe ring 36 which engages in a complemental hole 40 in the turntable orplatform 38 and the screws 41 which extend through the flanges 42 ofopposite ends of the casing 11 into the platform 38. The dischargemagazine 43 of the blowing head is maintained in fixed relation to andalignment with the blowing head by means of an annular extension 44thereon which fits snugly within the opening 40.

It will be apparent from the preceding description that the elements ofthe blowing head thus far described can readily be assembled anddisassembled inasmuch as the supporting ring 36 is detachably associatedwith the easing 11 and upon removal, the supporting ring 31 and the ballvalve 25 can be removed through the opening 13.

A feature of the present invention is the provision of novel airfiltering and diffusing means which enables gas pressure to be suppliedto the interior of the casing 11 to discharge material supplied from thehopper through the valve and magazine without danger of leakage of thematerial from the blowing head. As shown particularly in Figures 1, 3and 4, air is supplied to the blowing head by means of asolenoid-controlled air valve 45 of the kind described more particularlyin my co-pending applications Serial Nos. 594,152, now Patent No.2,935,233, issued May 3, 1960, and 611,231. The solenoid valve isconstructed and arranged so that when in the position disclosed inFigure 1, gas or air supplied under pressure through the pipe'46is shutoif from the blowing head 10.

and the'blowing head is connected to an exhaust port 47 in the valve 45by means of the normally open valve 48.

When the valve 48 is closed and the valve 49 is opened by energizati-onof the solenoid valve 45, and the ball valve 25 is in the position shownin Fig. 3 air or gas under pressure is supplied to the-blowing head 10to discharge material from the magazine into the container to be filled.After the charging operation is completed, the valve 49 is' closed andthe valve 48 opened to relieve gas pressure and thereafter the ballvalve 25 is turned to a positionsuch that the diametrical bore 26 isdisposed vertically for receiving a charge from the hopper 21, the valve45 being in the exhaust position so that gas pressure is not suppliedto'the interior of the casing 11. In either the blowing or the exhaustposition of the valve 45, it is highly desirable that the materialsupplied to the blowing head 10 from the hopper 21 should not escape tothe atmosphere.

To that end, the plates 18 and 19 are provided with couplings 50 and 51having passages therein which are connected by means of the pipes 52 and53 to a T 54 joined to the solenoid valve 45. The plates 18 and 19 aresuitably sealed around their peripheries to the walls 16 and 17 of thecasing by means of resilient rings 55 which are located in grooves 56around the openings 14 and 15 in the side walls and engage theinwardly-extending, generally circular bosses 57 and 58 on the plates 18and 19.

Enlarged cavities 59 and 60 in the bosses 57 and 58 communicate with thepassages in the couplings 50 and 51 and are covered at their inner sidesby concave-convex plates 61 and 62 substantially concentric with theball valve 25 and formed of filter material such as screening,perforated metal or porous sintered metal, as illustrated. The openingsor pores in the metal plates 61 and 62 should be small enough to preventthe escape of the powdered material from the hopper, but the porosity ofthe plates should be great enough to permit ready passage of air or gastherethrough. Any suitable means, such as screws, can be used to securethe porous plates 61 and 62 to the bosses 57 and 58. The metal plates 61and 62 are essentially in alignment with the bore 26 in the valve 25when the latter is in the blowing and exhaust position shown in Figs. 3,4 and so that the gas under pressure is blown directly into andexhausted directly from the opposite ends of the bore 26. This relationof the gas inlets to the valve equalizes the gas pressure on oppositesides of the ball valve 25 thereby preventing.

lateral displacement thereof which might momentarily unseat the valve 25and permit escape of gas into the hopper'2I upon initiation of theblowing operation.

The blowing head has only one movable element extending through thewalls of the casing 11. This element is a shaft for rocking the ballvalve 25 back and forth between its filling position, in which thediametrical passage forms a How path from the hopper 21 to the magazine43, and its discharge or blowing position (Fig. 3) in which the upperpart of the ball valve is interposed between the hopper 21 and themagazine 43 and the radial'passage 27 is in communication with themagazine 43 to enable the powdered material to be discharged by gaspressure supplied through the plates 61 and 62. As

' shown in Figure 4, the operating mechanism includes a shaft 65 whichis rotatably mounted in a thickened bearing portion 66 of the end wall67 of the casing 11. Opposite fiat surfaces 68 are formed on the innerend of the shaft and engage in an arcuate notch 69 formed in one side ofthe ball valve and extending generally perpendicular to the axis of thebore 26. The opposite side walls of the notch 69 are parallel and engagethe flats 68 on the shaft non-rotatably, but slidably so that movementof the ball 25 relative to the shaft 65 can take place to enable theball to engage the sealing ring 28 in the blowing position of the valve25. The direction of introduction of gas is such that the ball valve 25is forced against the sealing ring 28 during blowing thereby precludingleakage. However, when the ball valve is being shifted between thefilling position and the blowing position, it is relieved of pressureand thus canbe moved quite easily. Rotation of the shaft 65 by means ofthe cam-actuated lever arms 70 and 71 mounted on a squared end 72 of theshaft 65 moves the ball valve back and forth between the positionsdescribed above. Any suitable mechanism such as the cam elementsdisclosed in my application Serial No. 611,231 can be used for rockingthe shaft 65.

Suitable sealing means, such as, for example, the O- ring 73 mounted ina groove 74 in the shaft, prevents escape of gas or powdered materialout of the casing 11 around the shaft 65.

If desired, the shaft may be provided with appro.-'

priate limit stop means, such'asthe stop plate 75, fixed to the shaft65. As shown in Fig. 2, the stop plate 75 has right angularly relatedstop surfaces 76 and 77 for cooperation with the stop lugs 78 and 79 onthe plate 80 which is fixed to the end wall .66 of the casing so thatthe valve is limited to an angle of rotation of As shown in Figure 5 anddescribed in greater detail in my applications Serial Nos. 595,249 and611,231, the bottom 81 of the magazine 43 may be downwardly tapered andhas a discharge passage 82 of small diameter therein. A recess 83adjacent to or concentric with the passage 82 is provided to vent gasfrom a container or cavity into which material is charged from themagazine 43. A

filter member 84 formed of sintered porous metal or the like covers therecess 83 to prevent escape of the material from the container.

From the preceding description, it \m'll be apparent that a blowing headconstruction has been provided in which all of the joints in the casingare eflectively sealed so that the powdered material received in theblowing head and subjected to pressure of gas therein cannot leak out orescape through'the'joints inthe casing. Moreover, the rotary shaft 65does not extend through the porous plates 61 and 62 so that a difiicultsealing problem is avoided thereby. Accordingly, loss of material andcontamination of the apparatus by escaping material are reduced'to 'aminimum.

It will be understood that the apparatus is susceptible tornodificationin the shape and size of the-casing and theelements mounted therein, andthe manner in which the ball valve and other elements. thereof areassociated with each'other. Accordingly, the form of the inventiondescribed herein should be considered as illustrative and not aslimiting the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A blowing head for filling apparatus comprising a hollow casinghaving an open top and bottom, a material supply member communicatingwith the open top of said casing, a discharge element communicating withthe open bottom of said casing to receive said material therefrom, avalve member movably mounted and housed completely within said casingand having a first passage therethrough movable to one position inwhich-one of its ends is connected to said supply member and itsoppositedisposed at an angle to said first passage and communicatingwith said first passage and movable to a position in which it isconnected with said discharge element when said first passage isdisconnected from said supply member, operating means extending throughsaid casing for moving said valve member, a gas inlet and exhaust portin said casing in spaced relation to said operating means to supply gasunder pressure to the interior of said casing and discharge materialfrom the passages in said valve member and said discharge element, and afilter member on said casing covering the port, said operating meansbeing disposed outside said filter member.

2. A blowing head for filling apparatus comprising a hollow casinghaving side walls and a top and a bottom, said top and bottom havingopenings therein, a material supply member communicating with said topopening to supply finely divided material into said casing, a dischargemember communicating with the bottom opening of said casing to receivesaid material therefrom, a rotary valve member housed completely withinand rotatably mounted in said casing and having a substantiallydiametrical passage therethrough and a radial passage having an innerend communicating with said diametrical passage and an open outer end, ashaft extending through one side wall of said casing and engaging saidvalve member for rotating it between a first position in which thediametrical passage has its opposite ends connected with said top andbottom openings and providing a direct path of flow between said top andbottom openings, and a second position in which said radial passage isconnected with said bottom opening and said diametrical passage isdisconnected from said top opening preventing flow from said top openingto said bottom opening, a gas inlet and exhaust passage in a side wallof said casing other than said one side wall, and a filter membermounted on said other side wall and covering said gas inlet and exhaustpassage, said shaft being disposed outside of said filter member.

3. The blowing head set forth in claim 2 in which said rotary valvemember is a ball valve member of smaller diameter than the bottomopening of said casing, and said blowing head comprises a first annularvalve seat adjacent to the top of said casing, encircling said topopening and engaged by said ball valve member, a second annular valveseat adjacent the bottom of and movable relatively to said casing forengaging the ball valve member, said second seat being smaller than thebottom opening of said casing to enable the second seat and ball valvemember to be removed through said bottom opening, and means detachablyconnected to said casing adjacent to said bottom and extending into saidbottom opening for resiliently urging said second seat against said ballvalve member and the latter against said first seat.

4. A valve for a blowing head for filling apparatus comprising a hollowcasing having sidewalls, a top opening for receiving a finely dividedmaterial and a bottom opening for discharging said material, a rotaryvalve member mounted completely Within and rotatable relative to saidcasing and having a substantially diametrical passage therethrough and asubstantially radial passage having an inner end intersecting saiddiametrical passage and an open outer end, one sidewall having anopening therein, a coupling plate mounted in said sidewall opening insealed relation thereto, said plate having means including a passagetherethrough for connecting the interior of said casing to a source ofgas under pressure, a filter member mounted on said plate and extendingacross said passage, and a shaft extending through a sidewall of saidcasing and outside of said filter member for rotating said valve memberbetween a first position in which said diametrical passage connects andforms a direct flow path between said top and bottom openings and asecond position in which said diametrical passage is connected with saidsource of gas under pressure through said filter member and isdisconnected from said top opening, and said radial passage is connectedwith said bottom opening.

5. The valve set forth in claim 4 in which said rotary valve member is aball valve member of smaller diameter than the bottom opening of saidcasing, and said blowing head comprises a first annular valve seatadjacent to the top of said casing, encircling said top opening andengaging said ball valve member, a second annular valve seat adjacentthe bottom of and movable relatively to said casing for engaging theball valve member, said second seat being smaller than the bottomopening of said casing to enable the second seat and ball valve memberto be removed through said bottom opening, and means detachablyconnected to said casing adjacent to said bottom and extending into saidbottom opening for resiliently urging said second valve seat againstsaid ball valve member and the latter against said [first seat.

6. A valve for a blowing head for filling apparatus comprising a hollowcasing having sidewalls, a top opening for receiving finely dividedmaterial and bottom opening for discharging said material, a valvemember housed completely within and movably mounted in said casing andhaving a first passage extending transversely therethrough and a secondpassage having its inner end intersecting said first passage between itsends and an open outer end, one of said sidewalls having an openingtherethrough, a coupling member mounted in said one sidewall in sealedrelation to said sidewall opening, said coupling member having an airinlet and discharge passage therethrough, a filter member mounted onsaid coupling member and extending across said inlet and dischargepassage, and means extending through a sidewall of said casing outsideof said filter member for moving said valve member between a firstposition in which said first passage connects and forms a direct flowpath between said top and bottom openings and a second position in whichsaid first passage is disconnected from said top opening and isconnected with said source of gas under pressure through said filtermember and said second passage is connected with said bottom opening.

7. The valve set forth in claim 6 in which said rotary valve member is aball valve member of smaller diameter than the bottom opening of saidcasing, and said blowing head comprises a first annular valve seatadjacent to the top of said casing, encircling said top opening andengaging said ball valve member, a second annular valve seat adjacentthe bottom of and movable relatively to said casing for engaging theball valve member, said second seat being smaller than the bottomopening of said casing to enable the seat and ball valve member to beremoved through said bottom opening, and means detachably connected tosaid casing adjacent to said bottom and extending into said bottomopening for resiliently urging said second seat against said ball valvemember and the latter against said first seat.

8. The valve set forth in claim 6 in which said coupling membercomprises a disc-like plate having a pipe coupling on its outer sideprovided with a passage extending through said plate, said plate havingan enlarged open chamber in its inner side communicating with saidpassage, and said filter member comprises a thin plate of poroussintered metal, said sintered metal plate being secured to the innerside of said plate and covering said open chamber.

9. The valve set forth in claim 8 in which said valve member is a ballvalve member and said sintered metal plate is concave-convex in shapeand is substantially concentric with said ball valve member.

10. A valve for a blowing head for filling apparatus comprising a hollowcasing having a sidewall, a top opening for receiving finely dividedmaterial and a bottom opening for discharging said material, a valvemember housed completely within and rotatable relative to said casingand having a first passage extending transversely therethrough and asecond substantially radial passage having ,its inner end intersectingsaid first passage be tween its ends and an open outer end, a gas inlet,and

exhaust openinginsaid sidewalLmeans for rotating said valve member to a,fir'st'portion inwhich its first passage is substantially inalignmentwith and connecting said inlet and discharge opening and a secondposition in which said first passage is disconnected (from said topopening and its second passage is in alignment and con-' valve seatencirclingsaid top openingforengaging said rotary valve member and meansnormally urging said valve member against said valve seat.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,152,632 Cassiere Apr. 4, 1939 2,319,192 Sheldon May 11, 1943 2,540,059Stirn et a1. Ian. 30, 1951 2,858,212 Durant et al. Oct. 28, 1958

